Japanese Restaurants – Page 42

What we ate during the hottest 2 weeks of the year: Revisits to Izakaya Sakura, The Original Sab E Lee, Grandma Tofu and BBQ, Manila Fast Food and Desserts, and Champions Mariscos Truck

Man, the last two weeks have been brutal….call me a soft San Diegan, but I've been feeling the heat and humidity. I told Cathy that I wish it would just storm like crazy so this weather would break. No such luck so far!

Well, regardless of the weather, you've got to eat, right? So here's some of what we had during the last two weeks.

Izakaya Sakura:

It had been a while and I was craving some Ebi Kakiage cold noodles, so Izakaya Sakura it was.

This time it was the cold udon version, which hit the spot.

This really hit the spot!

Though I could have done without having to listen to Wilson Phillips Greatest Hits throughout my meal….

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of TOSEL has closed

Spicy Thai food is a natural for us during hot muggy weather…..not sure why.

The usual suspects at the Linda Vista location.

Man, that Grilled Duck Larb just hit the spot…right between the eyes.

I swear, I recall TOSEL having A/C? Well, not on this day. The result of spicy food with no A/C had me wondering if it was the Salted Fish Fried Rice….or was it me?

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Grandma Tofu and BBQ:

I wanted some Bibim Naengmyun, but Buga was closed for renovation (they've since reopened). So I ended up going to Halmouny…Grandma Tofu and BBQ.

Love the flavors….bracing and refreshing. The noodles however, seemed were really rubbery, like rubberbands, I mean, naengmyun is always rather elastic, but these just would not give way!

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

I was up in the area and decided to grab lunch. I hadn't been back in here in almost 9 months or so.

A quick look at the steam table made selecting what I wanted easy.

The Beef Mechado was much more tender than the last time I had it. The flavor was also better, much more tangy flavor and decent salt. It was on the greasy side though.

The sisig was not bad; nice pungent, sour, spice, salt….. would have been nice to have a bit of crispness in it since it was typical "SD Sisig", left-over lechon kawale. But overall; no complaints, better than I've had recently.

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Champions Mariscos Truck:

So, just as in the previous four weeks, I broke out the smoker during Labor Day weekend. I needed something fairly close by before I started the ribs, so I headed over to Champions Mariscos Truck in the parking lot of Toys R' Us on Morena.

Consomme might seem to be a bit much on a scortching day, but I can never turn it down. This was a bit too water for my taste, with a bit too much celery flavor. Not as good as my previous visits.

I went with the Arrachera y Camaron…the surf and turf taco. Not enough caramelization on the beef, but it was decently tender. The shrimp were moist and flavorful.

I decided to go with the Taco de Marlyn again.

Man, they really loaded this thing! Unlike my previous visit, it didn't seem to have too much queso…perhaps due to the amount of filling! All this "stuff" seemed to water down the flavor of the smoked fish though….but this wasn't too bad.

Champions Mariscos Truck – In the parking lot of Toys 'R Us on Morena Boulevard

So there you go….we may be overheatin', but we're still eatin'. Hope everyone is staying and keeping cool!

A Sushi/Sashimi Intervention at Sushi Tadokoro

August 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Our luck in eating out hasn't been much good recently. In fact, I guess I'm starting to get a bit ornery about the whole thing. So the Missus decided it was time for an intervention. And She chose just the right place……Sushi Tadokoro.

What follows are mostly just photos….I've posted on the place enough already.

The sashimi was just perfect, the amaebi were just delivered as we sat. The heads were still moving the entire time we ate our sashimi. Some may find this somewhat disconcerting. We saw this as a mark of freshness. The engawa was a favorite of the Missus.

We always get something a bit different on every visit. This time it was the Kamasu – barracuda, which was seared to develop the wonderful oils.

The Iwashi (Sardine) was especially rich.

Like I've said before….getting this is not difficult. The Itamae has to be comfortable and familiar with your tastes and even budget. Your responsibility is to be an open-minded customer. After a couple of visits, he, and you have an unspoken understanding…..

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Open: Mon – Sat 5pm – 10pm

The Missus Yakyudori obsession

July 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

One of the side benefits about doing this blog for so long is that I get to document things, how our eating has changed over time, ditto with my cooking, our travels, and so forth. One of the really fun and interesting items I've been to post about over the years are the Missus's food feet-ishes umm, obsessions, some of which are narrowly focus on a single item, sometimes from a single place, or perhaps a dish with a common "mechanical" function, many of have been documented here in detail.

And just as many times, the Missus has "sworn off" things after finding out what the ingredients are, or perhaps how something is made. The longest running "item that shall not pass my lips" was chicken and turkey. Folks have asked for the cause of this. All I have for you is a video of this commercial:

Which somehow traumatized the Missus so much that She refused to eat chicken or turkey (except on vacation). The Missus was very good at keeping Her word as I've noted several times. This, other than the Asian Pear overload (a story for a different day) has been the longest running "I shall not eat"……starting in November of 2009, as I mention here. It only ended a bit over a week ago, though with strict conditions….I do believe turkey is still not welcomed, though.

So, what ended the historic and epic chicken prohibition? It was victory by Binchotan as duly noted in this recent post. It seems that those bincho-tainted wings won Her over….so in essence we've grilled in that manner 5 times over the last two weeks. Always with something interesting; in this case "Kamo", duck breast.

And with chicken wings of course. During one of our sessions, the Missus mentioned how good the wings were, probably among the best She could recall. Instead of showing restraint, I made the mistake of saying that our grilled wings were not as good as Yakyudori's. Thus began the interrogation. All that was missing was the bright light blasting into my face, the water dripping into my eye, and maybe a dentist drill. "Just what makes Yakyudori's wings better!", "Well, it's decent quality wings, second joint only, heavily seasoned with good quality salt, but the main thing is how the wings were skewered." "Well……." Showing no will-power I instantly spilled the beans: "The wings are skewered in such a way to stretch the skin, maximizing surface area. The bones are separated making it easy to pull out without burning your fingers." Yes, such is life in the mmm-yoso household, an entire conversation about stretching chicken wing skin…….what happened to us?

Suddenly, Yakyudori went from a shop the Missus wasn't interested in, to one we just had to go to…..as in the next evening. And of course we had those wings…….

And of course I was right………..it was better than what we made at home.

My gloating was short lived however, as the Missus directed me to Marukai on the way home. You guessed it. To pick up chicken wings.

The next evening, as the Missus prepped Herself for wing surgery, I got the other stuff ready. Lit the binchotan and prepared the shishito peppers, shiitake mushrooms, okra, and some pork "toro"…..

25 minutes had passed and the charcoal was white and hot when the Missus finally finished Her 6 wings. I gotta say, She did a great job.

She basked in the glory of Her wings…..

With a side order of gloating thrown in, "Ha, after 15 years, I finally got a cooking point over you! Fifteen years!"

I gotta admit, these were pretty darn good, and I told Her so. Immediately, the Chinese daughter came out, "hmmm, the bones don't break away as easy as Yakyudori…maybe the skin can be stretched a bit more…."

Remember our drooling "friend" from our previous post? He was back again.

The Missus said he reminds Her of this character from the old series Home Improvement.

As dinner was finishing up, I told the Missus what a good, albeit rather long job She had done. She absently told me, "I don't really remember how I did that……."

She had already moved on, mentioning how much She enjoyed the Tsukune at Yakyudori.

Oh-oh, another obsession coming up?

Stay tuned…….

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

COMC: Beating the Heat Edition – Places you know (if you’ve been reading long enough…)

June 28, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, yoso-silly

**** Sadly, all of these places have closed

Man it's been a hot one. And I read that's it's going to be even hotter this weekend. Here's some "Clearing Out the Memory Card" stuff. If you've read long enough, you'll know where these places are…..

Have a great Friday!

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

And I guess I'm having "pork withdrawals" after consuming all that swine in Portugal…..

Kayaba
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

Keep cool everyone!

Noodling Around: Revisits to Pho Tay Do, Santouka, Minh Ky, and having something that’s “just wrong” at Pho Cow Cali

June 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Somewhere at about the half-way point during our trips, the Missus always asks me, "are you missing anything?" And usually, it's noodles. Strangely, on our last vacation we ate so well that I only started missing noodles, at the end of our trip……yes, I realize we were in Rome and all, but it was Asian noodles, in any form….

Anyway, here's a short collection of revisits…..

Pho Tay Do:

**** Pho Tay Do has closed

I first posted on Pho Tay Do back in 2010, Cathy followed up a year later. For some reason my mind just blanks out places in this strip mall; I'm not sure why.

I actually hadn't been back here in over a year and was wondering what the state of the Bun Mang Vit – The Duck and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup was.

There were a couple of tables occupied when I arrived, but the interior was pretty dark. I guess they're trying to keep the energy bill down.

I ordered the Bun Mang Vit which arrived in the blink of an eye.

I don't know how business is, nor how the current state of the economy or anything else is affecting this place, but in terms of what I had it seems to have fallen.

The broth wasn't hot and had very little flavor. There was hardly eny of the earthy reconstituted dried bamboo and maybe 2/3 of the noodles of the bowl I last had here. The portion of dipping sauce was smaller and though it still has a nice hint of ginger, it too tastes watered down.

The slices of duck are smaller and very dry. Even though the place never provided an abundance of herbs in their greens, this was just about all cabbage……

This was pretty sorry overall and a mere shadow of what I'd had in previous visits. Sad…..

Pho Tay Do
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka (for the zillionth time):

Yeah, I know…I won't even post the links. A couple of weeks back, I took my coworker, "YZ" to Yamadaya, I was interested in what She thought.

On this visit, the pork cheek was spot on, tender and full of flavor. The noodles were done perfectly as well. Hard combination to beat.

So when I quizzed Her, the opinion was pretty much the same as ours. Pork and noodles Santouka, broth Yamadaya. So I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, right?

The Missus asked me if the perfect ramen existed? I could only shrug my shoulders……

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Minh Ky:

Yes, Beef Sate Noodle – Dry, again:

Needless to say….it delivered as expected.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Cow Cali:

Before we left on our trip, the Missus was strangely craving Pho….something that rarely happens as I'm the Pho eater in the family. The craving lasted for a couple of weeks and there's just so many times you can go to Pho Lucky. The Missus can be a rather hard nut though…..once She finds something She likes it's hard to convince Her to try something else. I did explain to Her that Pho Cow Cali's protein was better and that they had Filet Mignon Pho!

Which was just fine for Her….however, once She saw this on the menu:

She determined that I just had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet….without com tam (broken rice). And so it came to pass that I had mine with brown rice.

First, let me explain that I'm not a fan of brown rice. Then to add insult to injury, they charge you $1 more. Of course they probably don't sell too much brown rice, so this took forever……it was also very low quality. The Bi was good, the pork chop and cha ok, the brown rice, just wrong. Nuff said….I tried it once.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Takka Sushi Bar & Grill-Santee

May 30, 2013 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

Hi there and welcome to mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing today while Kirk is busy vacationing and Ed (from Yuma) is busy planning on vacationing.

In between 'staycationing' around this large County of San Diego, there have been daily chores, gardening, tying loose ends and general catching up. On the days when neither The Mister nor I feel like cooking, we've found a place close to home. In the same mall as Pho Ca Do, which Kirk posted about in February, is Santee's newest (and fifth) Sushi bar.

Located across the street from the Post Office, this location is convenient for anyone who shops at the Costco a block away. You'll notice the signage indicating traditional rolls are 50% off. Special rolls are 30% off. I still don't understand this whole marketing of discounted rolls, since I never have seen any sold at full price.

Neat and clean, the fairly large space (there's an additional zashiki room (you sit on pillows on the floor) in the back) has a sushi bar spanning the length of the room- more than 12 seats. Of course there are two televisions on the wall behind the sushi bar.

Tea here is $1 per person. It's green tea.

The meals we have ordered here usually start out with a small bowl of miso soup. It's unremarkable.

One time we ordered the Rainbow Roll ('regular' price $13 final price $6.50)

This roll is remarkable in that there isn't much rice. I sometimes feel some places overfill their rolls with rice and that takes away from the fish flavor. However the rice used here is a very good sushi rice.

The mixed tempura vegetable appetizer ($4.25) is properly fried, light and crispy, not greasy.

The spicy tuna salad ($7.95) was quite spicy. I had to add soy sauce to 'cut' some of the heat. The vegetables were fresh and crispy and there was a good amount of tuna, but the 'spicy' kind of ruined it for me. The Mister ordered the chicken Katsu don meal, which came with the above salad as well as a choice of gyoza or California roll. The gyoza was filled with a good amount of pork and was very fresh tasting. The chicken Katsu was lightly breaded, fried crispy and topped with a soft scramble of egg, a house made Katsu sauce that was slightly sweet and slightly spicy and some sesame seeds. It was *very* good.

One visit, we shared the agedashi tofu ($3.25). Lightly (corn starch or potato starch) coated and fried crispy soft tofu served in a warm dashi-mirin-soy based broth. Again, very good and something I could eat as a main dish…

The Veggie Roll ('regular' price $8, so final price $4) and Hamachi Maki ('regular' $6 final price $3). The hamachi was unremarkable, the Veggie Roll I will get again. There is the 'inner roll' that is wrapped with seaweed, a thin layer of good sushi rice and the final outer roll is wrapped with soy paper. I liked this one.

The Rainbow Salad ($12.95) is an even better version of the Rainbow Roll. No rice, plenty of all the same fish that are on the Rainbow Roll on top of crispy lettuces, cucumber and other vegetables topped with a not overpowering sesame-soy based dressing.

Takka is a nice addition to the neighborhood.

Takka Sushi Bar & Grill 9535 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619) 562-8006 Mon-Sat 11-9, Sun 12:30-9

COMC: Revisits to those same old places – Izakaya Sakura, Pho King, Minh Ky, Kayaba, Pho Lucky, and Buga

May 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here's another one of those C(learing) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard) posts. Just the same old places that I've posted on a zillions times.

You can figure out where is where, right? Just photos for this warm Saturday night.

Geeez….all the same places. Sometimes it's a wonder that I'm able to post on new places.

Big Island: A revisit to Teshima and other stuffs

April 28, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Japanese Restaurants, Poke, Travel

On our last full day on the Big Island we decided to just relax. We took a walk down Ali'i Drive then back around Kuakini Highway.

It was a quiet day, so we just drove around a bit and talked about lunch…..yes, you know us. Teshima's"old school Japanese restaurant" charm had really gotten to the Missus. So with not much else to do, we drove back up to Kealakekua and stopped by Teshima for lunch.

The Missus was craving fish so She immediately went for the "Fresh Catch" Sashimi Tray ($17.50) which was ahi.

For some reason, the Missus really enjoys the old fashioned tsukemono and sunomono. Ditto the old school miso soup.

The fish was very, very fresh, and the Missus scarfed up all twelve pieces in no time.

I went with the "Monday Special" ($12.75). Now I've read some complaints about the prices and portion sizes at Teshima…..but take a look at this for $12.75……..

Geeez…..really?

Five slices ahi sashimi, the teri beef was very "local" a bit chewy. The fried fish here is quite good as well.

The makizushi and inari sushi take me back to "small kid" time…though combined with a chawan of rice….man, that's more carbs than I usually consume in a whole day, or two, nowadays.

The Missus got the fried fish, tsukemono, sunomono, and miso soup.

So I had an order of the famous shrimp tempura($7.25) as well.

If you like crunch, these will fill the bill. The tempura is surprisingly light and crisp.

We both thought that it tasted a bit of old oil that needed to be changed though. There seemed to be a bit of an off taste and even some greasiness to all the tempura.

So in the end a good meal, but not wow'd by the tempura.

Teshima Restaurant
79-7251 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kealakekua, HI 96750

We spent the rest of the day "just cruisin' around". Went to various stores, including a couple of health food places and walked around a bit.

After a very typical afternoon nap, we went out and took another walk around……through Long's, Hilo Hattie looking for gifts for the Missus's relatives and friends.

As it was getting to late afternoon, we discovered we were still pretty full. So we thought we'd go for some poke and beer for dinner. We walked back to the KTA and the pre-packaged selection looked terrible, so we went across the street to Sack n' Save. The poke selection there was better. I eventually settled on some ahi limu with inamona and of course boiled peanuts (not pictured), which went well with the Mehana Humpback Blue, which was the best of the three we gried during this trip.

This was ok. Not the best quality fish, the ogo kind of tough and dry, but passable.

I'm not a big fan of seaweed salad, but the Missus likes it……

As evening settled we saw a good number of locals who seemed to know each other parking in the back of the King Kamehameha. It seemed like there was a big party going on. So after eating and a quick shower we headed downstairs and strolled over to Kailua Pier.

That's Ahuʻena Heiau in the foreground. I guess some company was having their Christmas Party….yes, it was that long ago.

The chatter and laughter brought smiles to our faces as we just sat and took in the wonderful Kona evening. We had a great time in the Big Island. It had been too long since we were here last. We'll be back again soon……

San Diego’s Ramen Renaissance Shio Edition: Gunco Ramen, Hinotez, Tajima, Izakaya Masa, and Yakyudori

April 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Here's the fourth installment of my ramen-mania posts. With the exception of Hinotez, I've had tonkotsu ramen at all of these places before and had long ago decided that long simmered pork bone soup (or in a few instances tonkotsu base) was not the way to go. In the battle of shoyu versus shio, salt is my preference. I like the mild briney and in some cases complex, salt flavors along with a nice, clean, but rich broth. For me the margin of error is slim….temperature and richness really do count.

After being tonkotsu'd out, some shio ramen sounded just plain refreshing to me. Here's my visits in chronological order.

Gunco Ramen:

I last visited Gunco over two years ago with our resident ramen ruminator, Dennis. Things look just the same here…….

I really enjoyed my Shio Ramen here. It seems that the ramen has been getting better with every visit.

While the broth is relatively simple and very low on oil, there's one flavor that really sticks out….ginger. But either my tolerance has improved over the years, or they've learned to temper the flavor while still giving the broth here a touch of uniqueness, I dunno.

The noodles were fine, everything else is pretty sparse, no soft boiled egg, and the chashu quite tough.

Still I had a pleasant lunch.

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Hinotez:

Funny thing, I've had many breakfasts at Hinotez, a couple of dinners, but it wasn't until I read Kirbie's post on Hinotez, that I realized I hadn't had the ramen here.

I guess that perhaps I thought the ramen here would be the same as Yakyudori.

Upon arriving I noticed that there have been some minor renovations, curtains on the booths and such.

I must go during some really off-peak hours. There never seems to be many people in te place when I eat here. Such was the case on this day.

As I mentioned before; I expected Yakyudori Shio Ramen, which this was not.

The visual difference was pretty significant, no corn, no menma(dried then rehydrated bamboo shoot).

The broth was also a bit strange. I'm wondering if the Yakyudori group has changed their salt? This had a strange almost bitter flavor, rather than the mild sweetness of the shio ramen I'd had at Yakyudori…..well you know that I just had to check into that, right? The chashu was nicely flavored but tragically ice cold and thus somewhat waxy and not pleasant to eat.

I don't think I'll be coming back to Hinotez for the ramen….breakfast, but not ramen.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Ramen House:

It was MrsZ who first informed me that Tajima was undergoing renovation. So about two weeks later I dropped by. The reworking was almost complete, the place looked very nice and modern. Hey look folks, Tajima looks all grown up now…..they even carry local craft beers!

But would the Shio Ramen suddenly be better than the rather mediocre stuff I've had here before?

Seriously, because of the temperature of the broth…. not hot enough, this seemed like a greasy mess. The noodles were over-cooked, the chashu here never wows me, and it was very consistent in being very dry and tough.

I usually hedge my bets by adding kakuni pork, which wasn't very good on this day as it was lacking in flavor and tough. At least the egg was nicely done.

Just think if that broth was hot enough.

Service, as has been my experience at Tajima was very nice.

Tajima Ramen House
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Frankly, I haven't had much luck here in the past. But I still believe Masa is in what I call the top tier with regards to ramen.

There has always been a kind of metallic flavor to the broth here. In fact, I think Dennis has picked up on that as well as he calls this place the Sandra Lee of Izakayas.

Strangely, one of the biggest complaints about the ramen at Masa was rectified, at least on this visit. The noodles were nice and firm.

But this was way too salty, the broth almost lukewarm, and it had a strange feel to it. It seemed milky in color even though I didn't order the tonkotsu.

Here's a photo of the Shio Ramen I had here on my previous visit.

Add to that the strangely surly service on this evening……..

At least the Chuka Kurage delivered as it always does.

Like Tajima, the food here probably tastes better after a couple of beers or at the end of a long night.

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Yakyudori:

By the itme I hit Yakyudori I was hitting the wall. Luckily, they have lunch specials with "small" ramen. This being a Thursday, it came with chicken karaage, quite a bit of chicken karaage, and some might-as-well-have-been-from-a-bag-of-frozen shumai.

Over my last couple of visits, it seemed like Yakyudori is slipping with regards to ramen. This was decently done, but the cracks are showing. The chashu was still very cold….just like Hinotez, what's up with that? The broth also tastes a bit different, which really makes me wonder if they've changed the salt they use. The noodles were done characteristically well.

Still, this was not the same Shio Ramen I had here over the last three years.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

You know, I've been wondering if I should actually go on and do posts on some of what I consider to be "second-tier" ramen. what do you think?

My previous Ramen Renaissance Posts:

Part 1 : Underbelly revisited

Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya

Part 3: RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka

Thanks for reading!

Big Island: The Manago Hotel

March 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Hawai'i - The Big Island, Japanese Restaurants, Travel

After visits to places like Teshima's, Suisan, and Kawamoto's, you can see there's a kind of a running theme in our visit to the Big Island. With that in mind, I just had to stop at the Manago Hotel.

The hotel was built in 1917 and is still owned by the same family. There's a real "old-time" vibe to this place.

Walking down the hallways is like journey back in time…. You wonder what stories would be told if these walls could talk.

I hadn't stopped in here since the early 90's, but it looks the same to me. Especially the somewhat ramshackle, but charming "lunch room"……yes, they call it a restaurant, but it really reminds me of a plantation lunch room….mismatched furniture and all.

There's no menu handed to you when you are seated…..you read what's being served on the peg board and order. After placing your order, the server returns with your "side dishes", which you eat family style….you serve yourself.

Today, along with the big bowl of rice, there was long rice, macaroni-potato salad, which was well chilled, and blanched and marinated bean sprouts which was sort of like namul. The Missus pretty much whacked the bean sprouts and our server brought us another plate!

The one item I always have to get here are the pork chops. The big dilemma is; whether so get it pan-fried, or smothered in gravy. Seeing that there are kids now in college who weren't even born the last time I had the pork chops here, I went for the straight-up pan fried version.

I've been told that the cooks here use cast iron pans which are….well, older than I am. That's a well-seasoned pan. The bone in chops were a bit thinner than I remembered, but the wonderful crust and simple seasoning, salt, pepper, and maybe granulated garlic was just what I wanted. The chop isn't super-tender, but it has a pleasant chew, and was really moist. Sometimes I wonder if my food memories are a snapshot which has snowballed over time, creating its own reality. I'm glad to say, in terms of flavor, this was as I remembered.

The Missus had the pan fried ahi.

Which She said was simple, but well and honestly prepared.

There's something about a good meal which puts you in a nice frame of mind. There's also that great feeling you get when an old favorite still delivers….it makes everything seem right in the world for that moment. What the Manago hotel serves is good, simple, homey, honest, food, a snapshot of a different time. In this day and age of food fads, gimmicks, slow food – fast-food, farm to table, etc, etc, etc….. There's something almost refreshing about that.

Manago Hotel
82-6155 Mamalahoa Hwy
Captain Cook, HI 96704